50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

May 11, 2012, 7:13 am

≫ Next: Personal Branding… It Continues With Good Looks

Before we enter the eagerly anticipated top 10 of the 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music series, we only have 2 words left for you. Let’s continue…

#15 – ANDY CATO₂

Andy Cato (one half of Groove Armada), once Dj’d at a cross dressing party held in a cave. To fit in with the 300 cross dressing clubbers, Andy wore a fitting miniskirt. A couple of hours into his set, he went to light a cigarette with matches but they wouldn’t ignite. Totally bamboozled, it wasn’t until people started to feel faint that they realised the most important clubbing chemical was running low – O₂. The bus wasn’t due to pick them up till 8am and it was only 3am so they all had to exit the cave and huddle together next to the main road waiting…cross dressed!

#14 – MASTERS AT WORK – LITERALLY

At their height in the late 90s, garage/house pioneers Masters At Work travelled to gigs around the world regularly with not 1, not, 2 or not even 3 crates of vinyl but 16 crates of vinyl! The tab for excessive baggage was picked up by the promoters, natch!

#13 – M.A.N.D.Y./VILLALOBOS

In 1994, Philipp Jung and Patrick Bodmer who make up M.A.N.D.Y. threw parties in Patrick’s relatively small studio. Eager to have their music heard they would run around the streets inviting anyone who looked nice to the studio for a party. On one occassion they managed to get DC10 legend Ricardo Villalobos play for 300 studio-crammed people. They paid him just fifty Deutschmarks – £15; a far cry from his wage slips these days.

#12 – TIJS VERWEST – WHO?

For some electronic music fans, Tijs Verwest’s (aka Tiesto) music productions can seem somewhat cheesy or the equivalent of nails on a blackboard. However, we have a few facts here from his hard working youth that may ameliorate those opinions. Tiesto’s first job at 12 was delivering newspapers just like we all did. After that he picked strawberries from 6am to 9pm and Saturday mornings 6am to 12pm. That’s 81 hours a week! His first residency at Spock Club in Breda, he DJ’d 6 hour sets, 3 times a week and even cleaned the floor at the end of every night!

#11 – MARSHALL JEFFERSON&ON&ON&ON&ON&ON

Chicago house legend Marshall Jefferson was inspired to buy his first keyboard when he heard local DJ Jesse Saunders first record. It was so bad he figured he could make one better. He went to a music store and bought a sequencer to which the shop assistant advised “you will need a keyboard to go with it in order to make music”, so he bought a keyboard. “you don’t want all this without a drum machine?”, so he bought a drum machine. “you will also need speakers to listen to it all”, so he bought some speakers. In the end Marshall ended up also buying a mixer, recorder, monitors and a Roland TB-303. He was $9,000 lighter when he left the store and he’d never played a note in his life. The following year he had a huge hit with ‘Move Your Body’

Accidentally missed last weeks episode? Don’t fret, you can catch that here – 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music #20 – #16.

See you all next as we enter the top 10

↧

Personal Branding… It Continues With Good Looks

May 16, 2012, 8:28 am

≫ Next: 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

≪ Previous: 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

Personal branding is one of the most important factors that influence successful careers within the music industry these days.

As the new singing talent show ‘The Voice’ has shown, looks matter. They have shown with their unique style that other popular talent shows are often biased and will regularly see the better singers/artists go out in earlier rounds simply because they don’t have the stereotypical ‘looks’ of today’s modern musicians.

Obviously there are exceptions to the rule as Michelle McManus – and more recently Susan Boyle – have shown that in order to avoid being disadvantaged by their looks, they need to be at the other end of the spectrum.

Today’s modern acts tend to be either Susan Boyle-esque or Justin Beiber-esque. But what do you do if you aren’t blessed with natural good/bad looks? The average Joe needs to stand out from the crowd in this competitive industry and the best way to do this is by making the most of your personal branding and stand out from the rest in your own unique way.

Take Jessie J for example… average looking I’m sure we’ll all agree. However, she stands out from the crowd and has turned herself into a star by using personal branding techniques in the form of unique looks to stand out from the norm with her spiky lipstick and pale skin underneath jet black, fringed hair. Not to mention her half-nakedness!

Now, we’re not saying that you need to go all Gothic in order to succeed – unless you wanted to of course – but we’re merely saying that you need to be fresh and unique from the word ‘go’.

This doesn’t necessarily need to be in the form of looks; there are lots of other ways to promote your personal brand i.e. catchphrases and slogans etc. (think Jason Derulo) however in this post we’re solely focussing on the image of the artist.

A brand image is the vision you portray of yourself that you want others to see, and the first step in the creation of vision is through your looks.

There are a number of ways to change the stale image you currently have and some are simpler than others. Here we explain the material things you can change with your image in order to reinvent the look and feel you want to give off in order to offer a fresh, unique style that’s likely to get you noticed.

Take care of these few things and you’ll be well on your way to reinventing your image:

Create an alias

Changing your name is the easiest way to change the way you look. Granted, it isn’t a physical look, your name is the first thing your fans will see when they look at flyers. It is the first thing they type into the search engines in order to find your music and it is the first words they say to their friends when they’re spreading the love so it’s essential to choose a great band name.

Having a name that can express your image with words is an added way in which to wow your followers. Names that provoke thought like Duran Duran – taken from the cult film Barbarella in which the villain was named Dr. Durand-Durand.

Or maybe names with meanings that can show the brand image in what the word means. One such name could be the band Evanescence. They have a dark, mysterious brand image and is evident in their name: The word “evanescence” means “a disappearance or dissipation, like vapor.”

Change your wardrobe

One of the most powerful ways to change your appearance is via the wardrobe. You need to present yourself in the image you want your fans to see. As well as being heard, the music industry is all about fashion and styling. If you’re lazy in your approach to your image, your branding will seem sloppy, however if you’re on the ball in this department, your fans will see the smart appearance expected of a top musician/artist and appreciate the effort.

Changing the way you look can often be expensive, especially to those who want to be viewed as a fashion guru. Their wardrobes need to be regularly maintained and updated to the newest trends and the impression you get from these types of artists is that they hate being caught wearing the same thing twice. It’s almost as bad as wearing nothing at all to some!

Styling can, and often is, a full time job. So, if you’re serious about your image and want to make a great impression without drawing your attention away from your music, it is often advised to hire a stylist who can take care of your wardrobe while you concentrate on doing the thing you’re best at… creating your music!

Stylists will take care of everything from clothing to accessories and will have you looking cool in scarves, glasses, hats, shoes, bags and the latest gadgets as well as the usual apparel. If it’s bling you’re going for, your stylist will have it covered or if it’s a shy/retired look that you’re after then your stylist will bring it so you won’t have to worry about having anything to wear again!

Change your appearance

The easiest way to change your appearance is to change the way you look physically. This can often be very difficult for artists who have been around for a while and are looking to refresh their image. It’s easiest for new artists as they have the freedom to create an image of whatever they want. There are no boundaries with this and it often pays to be creative.

A hair cut or professional hair styling is the first thing you should consider. It’s surprising how rejuvenating it can be for artists to drop the usual, boring look and step out with the latest hair trend but with their own individual twist! It can improve confidence immediately and often shows in the work-rate and dedication of the individual following their new trim.

Even if you’re not looking to totally reinvent yourself, a good trim/style from a pro twinned with a new look from a clothes stylist can often provide the mental boost needed to conquer such a competitive industry.

Also, as the physical body is all the rage these days, it’s advisable to look after yourself by eating well and keeping yourself fit at the gym or through exercise.

A healthy individual can be spotted a mile away; especially if they’re standing next to a load of slobs! Make sure you’re not the slob that’s stood next to the guy that’s oozing swagger!

If all else fails, grab a gimmick!

In order to be unique, artists are coming up with newer more innovative ways to stand out from the crowd. Fans favourites such as Deadmau5 and T.E.E.D. are renowned for their over-sized mouse head and dinosaur suit respectively. They are essentially DJ’s (like hundreds of thousands of others), however they went the extra mile and created a gimmick in the form of a costume which made them unique.

Gimmicks make people stop and listen. For some reason a guy DJing in a dinosaur suit is way cooler than just a guy DJing. It’s the fickle mind of human beings these days but the good thing is, this will never change.

In order to stand out from the crowd, you need to offer something that your competitors don’t. Whether this is a certain unique style or costume or whether you have crafted yourself a brand new genre of music that nobody has ever heard, there will always be a place within the industry for new, fresh and unique characters.

Prove yourself as one of these characters by sorting out your personal branding!

Reach for the stars.

Adam.

↧

50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

May 18, 2012, 5:58 am

≫ Next: An interview with Trel Mack – “Inspired by Greatness”

≪ Previous: Personal Branding… It Continues With Good Looks

So here we are at the top 10 of the 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music series. With only 2 more episodes to go, prepare yourself to be (hopefully) blown away with some of the best unknown facts about electronic music ever. We continue…

#10 – SPILLER – GROOVEJET

In 2001, Spiller’s summer anthem ‘Groovejet’ was also the anthem to Apple’s prototype testing lab. It was the first ever track to be played on an apple iPod to test if it actually worked. Funnily enough it worked and now over 300 million have been sold worldwide!

#9 – ACID HOUSE CHARITY

In the early 90’s, Blackburn born Gary Aspden, now a successful brand consultant working with Adidas, used to host warehouse parties on a Saturday night after the Hacienda shut. “Parties for the people by the people,” he says now. After one warehouse party, there was money left over from the door so he sent a cheque to pay for 20 kids from Blackamoor special school in Blackburn to get riding lessons. It was in response to criticism from the local newspaper about people profiteering from acid house parties. Incidentally, the headmaster of the school tore the cheque up and went to the local press saying, ‘We don’t want their money.’ The community attitude towards the Manchester acid house scene was clearly misunderstood.

#8 – SETH, TROXLER, STONES

During Seth Troxlers set at a gig in Bristol, a girl climbed on to her friends shoulders and wrote ‘take me to London’ across her chest in lipstick. Seth made the effort of finding the girl after his set and offered to take her to london for his gig at Mulletover later that night. Realising that turning up to a gig with a random girl would probably not go down too well with his missus, Seth invited her two mates along aswell, only to be told there were two free spaces in the car. He made them play ‘paper, scissors, stones’ for the one space. The initially gutted loser satyed in Bristol but managed to hang out with Just Jack promoter Rag. The friend impressed Rag so much with his knowledge of dance music that Rag even offered him a job! ha.

#7 – THE DEMISE OF THE HACIENDA

In the early 90’s, thugs and gangstars were a regular occurance at the famous Manchester club, Hacienda. Ex-resident Dave Haslam was once dj’ing there when a guy knocked on the DJ box door to which Dave opened up the top half (the door was split in two) to a thug with a gun pointing at him asking for his records. Brave Dave simply slammed the door shut in the thugs face and carried on dj’ing. In January 91, another thug pulled a gun on the girl at the paydesk and that triggered the management to close the club for the first time. It reopened later that year but was never the same again as the gangsters moved in, Madchester became “Gunchester” and the “one love” vibe died.

#6 – BACK TO BASICS

In 1991, Dave Beer & Alistair Cooke set up Back to Basics in Leeds. As part of their plans, they invited house music doyen Ralph Lawson to be a resident and he got the honour of playing the first ever record at Back to Basics on November 23rd 1991. Back to Basics is now the longest running weekly club night in the world – 21 years old this year!

Bonus Fact: Before his residency at Back to Basics, Ralph Lawson ran his own night in Leeds called Clear. He once had Carl Cox playing on a Wednesday night to just 25 people and they only paid him £80!

You can catch last weeks episode here – 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music #15 – #11.

See you all next week for the final 5

↧

An interview with Trel Mack – “Inspired by Greatness”

May 21, 2012, 5:04 am

≫ Next: UK Music Festivals 2012 – The Ultimate Calendar for 138 of the Biggest and Best Music Festivals

≪ Previous: 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

Our latest talented client, Trel Mack, has kindly took the time out to answer a selection of questions chosen by us here at Brandshank HQ. Trel is one of the hottest talents in American Hip Hop right now and with his collaborations with well established R ‘n’ B artists Sean Chris John and Kenji Morris, we believe that Trel is on a one-track path to urban stardom!

Brandshank: You must be really excited about the launch of your new websites; which look fantastic by the way What else have you got planned for 2012?

Trel: First off, I would like to thank you for having me today I appreciate the opportunity and I do agree the websites look fantastic. It’s going to be a great year this year. I have a lot of things planned everything from music to music videos to business engagements, Plenty of good Collaborations with great talent. Me and My Partner Quinton Hatfield are looking to do numbers this year with SKE.

Brandshank: I see from you bio that you have a new project in store, untitled as of now. Care to shed any light on this?

Trel: Well, We finally confirmed the name for the project. It will be titled Inspired By Greatness. It is a motto that I have been saying for years and I thought it would be a great fit on what I am trying to accomplish musically for the ears of the listeners. This project will have more of the real me, What is really going on in Trel Macks life on a constant basis. This is something that my music was missing in the past so I am looking to show the people my ups and down and hopefully get them inspired.

Brandshank: Describe your style in 3 words?

Trel: Smooth, Inspiring, and transformable. In other words, I am very easy to listen too, when I say transformable I mean I am able to morph into any genre of music and make it my own. I try not to limit myself in anything that I do, with that being said I am experimental.

Brandshank: Who was your musical inspiration as a kid and who inspires you on the current scene today?

Trel: Musical Inspirations as a kid will definitely be 2pac, He has always been my favorite rapper since a kid. There are many Major artist I like, such as Drake, B.O.B, T.I , Jay-z . I mean the list can go on and on. But lately, I have been more inspired by artist and musicians that are on the come up. Just to name a few, Shaun ChrisJohn which is an dope RnB artist I teamed up with for some future projects, Erin Barra and Kenji Morris are my Favorite female musicians at the moment. Elle Maxwell is another one of my favorite female rappers. MarVo from Chi-Town, Maj Toure from Philadelphia. I am finding myself listening to great artist that are still on the Journey to success. Other people who inspire me is my family, and my team. SKE. Shout out to Brandon , Quinton Hatfield, TrellShells, Young Nydy. We in the building.

Brandshank: What piece of music production kit couldn’t you live without and what is it that you love about it so much?

Trel: Plain and Simple, The Mic. The mic is where I am most talented at. In the future I will learn an actual instrument because I want to be known as not only a great Hip-hop recording artist, but a musician as well.

Brandshank: I need to stir my cup of tea the number of times my current age (26). Do you have any strange habits/traits?

Trel: I do have a minor habit and I hate it. That habit is biting my nails at times, I know, I know it’s disgusting and I am working on it. Other than that I am good.

Brandshank: If you could pick a dinner guest, anyone from history, who would it be and why?

Trel: Wow, This is a great question. There are many, but there is one particular person who I would love to have a conversation with and that is Confucious a Chinese philosopher and politician. I have been studying the Chinese culture a little and came across Confucious in the process. I am interested in learning his way of thinking. I can learn a lot from this guy.

Brandshank: Finally, make us all laugh by telling a joke?

Trel: I am a comedian at times, you will have to catch me in my element. I don t have a Joke off hand. If we ever get a chance to hang out you will see the joker side of me. Hahaha

A big “thankyou” goes out to Trel for taking the time out to answer our questions. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Trel; a real down to earth talented guy with one big passion in life: music – “inspired by greatness”. From all of us here at Brandshank, good luck for the future!

To find out more about Trel Mack and his record label SKE Records you can visit his websites below:

Trel Mack Artist
SKE Records

↧

UK Music Festivals 2012 – The Ultimate Calendar for 138 of the Biggest and Best Music Festivals

May 25, 2012, 7:27 am

≫ Next: 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

≪ Previous: An interview with Trel Mack – “Inspired by Greatness”

With the festival season now upon us, events organisers are putting their final testing preparations into place before they open the doors to the festival faithful.

With gigs beginning to start around the country over the next few days, we thought it would be useful to bring our readers this year’s offering of The Ultimate UK Music Festivals Calendar 2012.

Use it as you please. It can be a check-list if you like or you could print it off and use it as toilet roll when you run out and need to go; it’s completely up to you.

Here we have listed the biggest and best UK music festivals of 2012 in order of geological area. In each area, they are also listed in date order within each area as well.

So if you know you’re going to have some free time, with a bit of spare cash and be in the South-West over the weekend of 16-18th June, all you have to do is have a look on this calendar and round-up all your buddies!

We’ll start from North and head South… enjoy!

SCOTLAND

Rock Ness 2012

Friday 8 June – Sunday 10 June
Loch Ness, Scotland
Cost: £159 for the weekend with camping / £149 for the weekend non-camping

Eden Festival 2012

Friday 15 June – Sunday 17 June
Raehills Meadows, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Cost: £79 for the weekend

T in the Park 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
nr Kinross. Scotland
Cost: £199 for the weekend

High Flying Birds @ Edinburgh Castle 2012

Tuesday 17 July
Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
Cost: £44 – £65 – SOLD OUT

The Wickerman Festival 2012

Friday 20 July – Saturday 21 July
nr. Kirkcudbright, Galloway, Scotland
Cost: £90 with camping and parking

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2012

Friday 3 August – Saturday 4 August
Inverness, Scotland
Cost: £95

Loopallu 2012

Friday 21 September – Saturday 22 September
Ullapool, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland
Cost: £75 for the weekend with camping

NORTH-WEST

Strummercamp 2012

Friday 1 June – Sunday 3 June
Manchester Rugby Club, South Manchester
Cost: £65 for the weekend

Dot to Dot festival (Manchester) 2012

Monday 4 June
Various locations, Central Manchester
Cost: £20

Parklife Festival 2012

Saturday 9 June – Sunday 10 June
Platts Field, Manchester
Cost: £64.50 for weekend, Saturday sold out

Chester Rocks 2012

Saturday 16 June – Sunday 17 June
Chester Racecourse, Chester, Cheshire
Cost: £35

Beat-Herder 2012

Friday 29 June – Sunday 1 July
Gisburn, Lancashire
Cost: £100 for the three days with camping

Kendal Calling 2012

Friday 27 July – Sunday 29 July
Lowther Deer Park, Hackthorpe, East Cumbria
Cost: £105 for the weekend with camping

Maryport Blues Festival 2012

Friday 27 July – Sunday 29 July
Cumbria
Cost: £58 for the weekend

The Wombats in the Forest 2012

Wednesday 8 August 2012
Delamere Forest, Delamere, Cheshire
Cost: £25.50

Creamfields 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Daresbury Estate, Halton, Cheshire, UK
Cost: £125 for 2 day camping, or £145 for 3 days

Solfest 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Tarns, nr Aspatria, Cumbria
Cost: £95

NORTH-EAST

Evolution Music Festival 2012

Sunday 3 June – Monday 4 June
Spillers Wharf, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
Cost: £35 for the weekend, or £25 for day tickets

Red Hot Chili Peppers @ Stadium Of Light 2012

Sunday 24 June 2012
Stadium Of Light, Sunderland
Cost: £45

Americana International Festival 2012

Thursday 5 July – Monday 9 July
County Showground, Newark, Nottinghamshire
Cost: £120 for full festival with camping

The Magic Loungeabout 2012

Friday 27 July – Sunday 29 July
Broughton Hall, Skipton, Yorkshire
Cost: £112

Leeds Festival 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Cost: £197.50 for the weekend, £85 for day tickets

Limetree Festival 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Lime Tree farm, near Grewelthorpe, North Yorkshire
Cost: £85

Galtres Festival 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Crayke, North Yorkshire, UK
Cost: £90

Bingley Music Live 2012

Friday 31 August – Sunday 2 September
Bingley, West Yorkshire
Cost: £45 for 3 day weekend

Musicport 2012

Friday 5 October – Sunday 7 October
Whitby Pavilion, North Yorkshire
Cost: £65

MIDLANDS

Off The Tracks Spring Festival 2012

Friday 25 May – Sunday 27 May
Castle Donington, Leicestershire
Cost: £70 for the weekend with camping

The Acoustic Festival of Britain 2012

Friday 25 May – Sunday 27 May
Uttoxeter Racecourse, Staffordshire
Cost: £85

Dot to Dot festival (Nottingham) 2012

Sunday 3 June 2012
Various locations, Nottingham
Cost: £20

Download Festival 2012

Friday 8 June – Sunday 10 June
Donington Park, Leics
Cost: £75 a day tickets. Only tickets available for Friday and Sunday left. Weekend and camping is sold out.

Live from Jodrell Bank 2012

Saturday 23 June – Sunday 24 June
Jodrell Bank, Cheshire
Cost: £35 – Elbow day sold out

Coventry Godiva Festival 2012

Friday 29 June – Sunday 1 July
Coventry, West Midlands
Cost: FREE

Indietracks Music Festival 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
Butterley, Derbyshire
Cost: £67 for the weekend

National Forest Folk Festival 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
National Forest Folk Club, Leicestershire
Cost: £17 for the day event or £20 for the evening

The Rock and Bike Fest 2012

Thursday 12 July – Saturday 14 July
Elvaston Castle Showground, Derby
Cost: £40 for the weekend

Splendour 2012

Saturday 21 July
Wollaton Park, Nottingham
Cost: £37.50

Global Gathering 2012

Friday 27 July – Saturday 28 July
Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Cost: £105 for the weekend

Nozstock Festival 2012

Friday 27 July – Sunday 29 July
Bromyard, Herefordshire
Cost: £80 with camping

Big Chill @ Eastnor Castle 2012 – CANCELLED

Thursday 2 August – Sunday 5 August
Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire
Cost: £180 for the weekend

Bloodstock Open Air 2012

Thursday 9 August – Sunday 12 August
Catton Hall, Walton-on-Trent, South Derbyshire
Cost: £115 for the weekend with camping

Strawberry Fields Festival 2012

Friday 10 August – Sunday 12 August
Heather, Leicestershire
Cost: £80 for the weekend with camping

Summer Sundae Weekender 2012

Friday 17 August – Sunday 19 August
De Montfort Hall, Leicester, Leicestershire
Cost: £105

V Festival (Staffordshire) 2012

Saturday 18 August – Sunday 19 August
Weston Park, Staffordshire
Cost: £175 for the weekend with camping

Shambala Festival 2012

Thursday 23 August – Sunday 26 August
Held at a location yet to be broadcast!
Cost: £119 for the weekend

Off The Tracks Summer Festival 2012

Friday 31 August – Sunday 2 September
Castle Donington, Leicestershire
Cost: £70 for the weekend with camping

Bromyard Folk Festival 2012

Friday 7 September – Sunday 9 September
Bromyard, Herefordshire
Cost: £86 for the weekend with camping

Alchemy Festival 2012

Friday 21 September – Sunday 23 September
Scholey Park, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Cost: £50

WALES

Wakestock 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
Abersoch, Cardigan Bay, North Wales
Cost: £125 for the weekend with camping or £100 without camping

Croissant Neuf Summer Party 2012

Friday 10 August – Sunday 12 August
Usk, Monmouthshire, UK
Cost: £95

The Green Man Festival 2012

Friday 17 August – Sunday 19 August
Brecon Beacons, Powys, Wales
Cost: £145 for the weekend

Hard Rock Hell 2012

Thursday 29 November – Sunday 2 December
Haven, Pwllheli, Gwynedd, North Wales
Cost: £190 for the weekend with camping

SOUTH-WEST

Salisbury International Arts Festival 2012

Friday 25 May – Saturday 9 June
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Cost: £20

Plymouth Volksfest 2012

Friday 1 June – Monday 4 June
Plymouth, Devon
Cost: £45 for the full 4 day festival

Run to the Sun 2012

Friday 1 June – Monday 4 June
Porth, Newquay, Cornwall
Cost: £75 for the weekend with camping

Dot to Dot festival (Bristol) 2012

Saturday 2 June
Various locations, Bristol
Cost: £20

Wychwood Music Festival 2012

Friday 8 June = Sunday 10 June
Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire
Cost: £132 for the weekend with camping

3 Wishes Faery Fest 2012

Friday 15 June – Sunday 17 June
Mount Edgecumbe House and Country Park, Torpoint, Cornwall
Cost: £25 for day tickets with camping

The Big Session 2012

Friday 15 June – Sunday 17 June
Catton Hall, Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire
Cost: £102 for the weekend with camping

Stonehenge 2012

Wednesday 20 June
Stonehenge, Wiltshire
Cost: FREE

Sunrise Celebration 2012

Thursday 21 June – Sunday 24 June
Gilcombe Farm, Bruton, Somerset
Cost: £122 for the weekend

Eden Sessions 2012

Saturday 23 June – Wednesday 11 July
St Austell, Cornwall
Cost: £35

Madness in the Forest 2012

Sunday 24 June
Westonbirt Arboretum, Nr Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Cost: £36.50 – SOLD OUT

NASS 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
Shepton Mallet, Somerset
Cost: £72 for the weekend with camping

Larmer Tree Festival 2012

Wednesday 11 July – Sunday 15 July
Larmer Tree Gardens, Tollard Royal, Wiltshire
Cost: £190 for the full festival

2000trees Festival 2012

Thursday 12 July – Saturday 14 July
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Cost: £66 – SOLD OUT

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival and Rally 2012

Friday 13 July – Sunday 15 July
Tolpuddle
Cost: £25 for the weekend or Sunday is free

The Wanted in the Forest 2012

Friday 20 July
Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Cost: £27.50

Chagstock 2012

Friday 20 July – Saturday 21 July
Chagford, Devon.
Cost: £65 for the weekend with camping

Steps in the Forest 2012

Sunday 22 July
Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Cost: £36

Camp Bestival 2012

Thursday 26 July – Sunday 29 July
Lulworth Castle, Dorset
Cost: £175 for the weekend with camping

Sidmouth Folk Week 2012

Friday 3 August – Friday 10 August
Sidmouth, Devon
Cost: £248 for the full festival

Relentless Boardmasters 2012

Wednesday 8 August – Sunday 12 August
Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall
Cost: £89 for the weekend with camping

Beautiful Days 2012

Friday 17 August – Sunday 19 August
Escot Park, Fairmile, Devon
Cost: £120 for the weekend – SOLD OUT

Aeon Festival 2012 – CANCELLED

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Shobrooke Park Estate, Crediton, Devon
Cost: £60 for the weekend

Watchet Live 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Watchet, Somerset
Cost: £60 for the weekend with camping

Greenbelt Festival 2012

Friday 24 August – Monday 27 August
Cheltenham Racecourse
Cost: £99 for the weekend

End of the Road Festival 2012

Friday 31 August – Sunday 2 September
Wiltshire
Cost: £150 for the weekend

Waveform 2012

Friday 31 August – Sunday 2 September
The venue is yet to be published
Cost: £85

Acoustica Festival 2012

Friday 14 September – Saturday 15 September
Various locations, Exeter, Devon
Cost: £18 for the weekend

Westfest 2012

Saturday 27 October
Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
Cost: £45

House of Fun Weekender 2012

Friday 23 November – Sunday 25 November
Butlins, Minehead, Somerset
Cost: from £299.52 for shared chalets

All Tomorrow’s Parties curated by The National 2012

Friday 7 December – Sunday 9 December
Butlins, Minehead, Somerset
Cost: £180 self catering

SOUTH

Brighton Festival 2012

Saturday 5 May – Sunday 27 May
Brighton, Sussex
Cost: Varied

Hampton Court Palace Festival 2012

Wednesday 13 June – Sunday 24 June
Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
Cost: Varies

Glade Festival 2012

Thursday 14 June – Sunday 17 June
Houghton Hall, Norfolk
Cost: £135

Isle of Wight Festival 2012

Friday 22 June – Sunday 24 June
Newport, Isle of Wight
Cost: £190 for the weekend with camping

Blissfields Festival 2012

Friday 29 June – Sunday 1 July
Winchester, Hampshire
Cost: £74 for the weekend

Cornbury Music Festival 2012

Friday 29 June – Sunday 1 July
The Great Tew Estate, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
Cost: £175 for the weekend with camping

The Hop Farm Music Festival 2012

Friday 29 June – Sunday 1 July
The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent
Cost: £162 for the weekend

Lounge On The Farm 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
Canterbury, Kent
Cost: £115 for the weekend

GuilFest 2012

Friday 13 July – Sunday 15 July
Guildford, Surrey
Cost: £130 for the weekend with camping

Swedish House Mafia @ Milton Keynes Bowl 2012

Saturday 14 July
Milton Keynes Bowl, Milton Keynes
Cost: £45

Truck Festival 2012

Friday 20 July – Saturday 21 July
Steventon, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Cost: £69 for the weekend

WOMAD 2012

Friday 27 July – Sunday 29 July
Malmesbury, Wiltshire
Cost: £135 for the weekend

Tom Jones at Osborne House 2012

Sunday 29 July
Osborne House, East Cowes, Isle of Wight
Cost: £40

V-Dub Island 2012

Thursday 2 August – Sunday 5 August
County Showground, Northwood, Isle of Wight
Cost: £25 for the weekend with camping

Wickham Festival 2012

Thursday 2 August – Sunday 5 August
Wickham, Hampshire
Cost: £120 for the 4 day festival

Playgroup Festival 2012

Friday 3 August – Sunday 5 August
Eridge Park, Eridge Green, Kent
Cost: £95 for the weekend with camping

Hevy Music Festival 2012

Friday 3 August – Monday 6 August
Port Lympne Wildlife Park, Kent
Cost: £96 for the weekend

Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2012

Thursday 9 August – Saturday 11 August
Cropredy, Banbury, Oxfordshire
Cost: £100 for the weekend

BoomTown Fair 2012

Thursday 9 August – Sunday 12 August
Winchester, Hampshire
Cost: £124

Wilderness 2012

Friday 10 August – Sunday 12 August
Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire
Cost: £129 for the weekend with camping

80’s Rewind Festival 2012

Friday 17 August – Sunday 19 August
Temple Island Meadows, Henley On Thames, Oxfordshire
Cost: £110 for the weekend with camping

Towersey Village Festival 2012

Thursday 23 August – Monday 27 August
Towersey, Thame, Oxon
Cost: £124 for the weekend with camping

Reading Festival 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Reading, Berkshire
Cost: £197.50 the weekend, £85 for the day, Sunday sold out

Pulse Festival 2011

Saturday 1 September
Sunnyfields Farm, Southampton, Hampshire
Cost: £15

The Big Feastival 2012

Saturday 1 September – Sunday 2 September
Kingham, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
Cost: £110 for the weekend

Bestival 2012

Thursday 6 September – Sunday 9 September
Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight
Cost: £180 for the 4 day festival

A Day at the Hop Farm 2012

Saturday 8 September – Sunday 9 September
The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent
Cost: £90

EAST

Strawberry Fair 2012

Saturday 2 June
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Cost: FREE

Razorlight in the Forest 2012

Thursday 14 June
Thetford Forest, Suffolk
Cost: £29.50

Red Hot Chili Peppers @ Knebworth 2012

Saturday 23 June
Knebworth House, Herts
Cost: £50

Sonisphere 2012 – CANCELLED

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
Knebworth House, Hertfordshire
Cost: £170 for the weekend with camping or £145 without camping

Ed Sheeran in the Forest 2012

Thursday 12 July
Thetford Forest, Suffolk
Cost: £24 – SOLD OUT

Latitude 2012

Thursday 12 July – Sunday 15 July
Henham Park Estate, Beccles, Suffolk
Cost: £175 for the weekend

The Darkness in the Forest 2012

Saturday 14 July
Thetford Forest, Suffolk
Cost: £36

Rhythms of the World Music Festival 2012

Saturday 14 July – Sunday 15 July
Hitchin Priory, Hertfordshire
Cost: £10 day tickets

The Secret Garden Party 2012

Thursday 19 July – Sunday 22 July
Mill Hill Field, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
Cost: £195 for the weekend – SOLD OUT

Folk by the Oak 2012

Sunday 22 July
Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
Cost: £34

Cambridge Folk Festival 2012

Thursday 26 July – Sunday 29 July
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Cost: £120 for the weekend

Cambridge Rock Festival 2012

Thursday 2 August – Sunday 5 August
Haggis Farm Polo Club, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Cost: £119 for the 4 day festival with camping

Standon Calling 2012

Friday 3 August – Sunday 5 August
Standon, Ware, Hertfordshire
Cost: £99 for the weekend with camping

V Festival (Chelmsford) 2012

Saturday 18 August – Sunday 19 August
Chelmsford, Essex
Cost: £175 for the weekend with camping

Rhythm Festivals 2012

Friday 24 August – Sunday 26 August
Old Warden Park, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire
Cost: £99 for the weekend

LONDON

I’ll Be Your Mirror 2012

Friday 25 May – Sunday 27 May
Alexandra Palace, London
Cost: £130 for the weekend

Field Day 2012

Saturday 2 June
Victoria Park, London
Cost: £45

GoGo Festival 2012 – CANCELLED

Friday 8 June – Sunday 10 June
Upminster, London
Cost: £110 for the weekend with camping

Lovebox Weekender 2012

Friday 15 June – Sunday 17 June
Victoria Park, London, UK
Cost: £99 for the weekend

BLOC weekend 2012

Friday 6 July – Saturday 7 July
London Pleasure Gardens, Royal Victoria Docks, London
Cost: £99 for the weekend or £55 for day tickets

Wireless Music Festival 2012

Friday 6 July – Sunday 8 July
Hyde Park, London
Cost: £50

Somerset House Series 2012

Saturday 7 July – Thursday 19 July
Somerset House, London
Cost: Varies

Hard Rock Calling 2012

Friday 13 July – Sunday 15 July
Hyde Park, London
Cost: £60 for Saturday – sold out, £55 for Sunday, £50 for Friday

Meltdown 2012

Wednesday 1 August – Sunday 12 August
Southbank Centre, London
Cost: Varies

SW4 2012

Saturday 25 August – Sunday 26 August
Clapham Common, London
Cost: £85 for the weekend or £45 day tickets

Underage Festival 2012 must be 13-17 years old

Friday 31 August
Shoreditch Park, Hackney, London
Cost: £19.50

The 1234 Shoreditch Festival 2012

Saturday 1 September
Shoreditch Park, London
Cost: £15

Freeze Festival 2012

Friday 26 October – Saturday 27 October
Battersea Power Station, London, UK
Cost: £65 for the weekend

London Jazz Music Festival 2012

Friday 9 November – Sunday 18 November
London
Cost: Varies

So there you have it, our comprehensive guide of music festivals that are sure to be hot this Summer and beyond. There are LOADS more festivals taking place up and down the country – in fact, these are only about 1/8 of the overall number of music festivals in the UK this year – however we thought we’d save you the time and energy by filtering out the ones that aren’t worth the travelling time and brought to you the biggest and best events in the UK this Summer.

Get out your camping gear and stock up your cool boxes… this year’s gonna be a scorcher!

Peace.

Adam.

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50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

June 1, 2012, 3:50 am

≫ Next: 25 Example Websites of Big Background/Minimal Web Designs for Inspiration

≪ Previous: UK Music Festivals 2012 – The Ultimate Calendar for 138 of the Biggest and Best Music Festivals

Welcome to the final episode of the 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music series. Now before you read on, take a deep breath, relax and prepare yourself to be dumbfounded, bewildered and educated with a shed-full of musical knowledge that only the Brandshank Elite (you) have backstage access to. In this final series we count down our picks of the electronic bunch! So, for the last time this series, let’s continue…

#5 – LOVE DECADE MASS ARREST

In July 1990, the Love Decade party held at Gildersome, Yorkshire was stormed by police at 5 am in the morning. Rave martyr Rob Tissera, the DJ playing at the time, got on the mic and exhorted the crowd to keep the bastards out. Revellers held them off for nearly 3 hours but the party eventually stopped and Rob was wrongly fingered (grow up children!) by the police to be the rave’s “Mr Big” and sentenced to 3 months in prison. The real “Mr Big” was Tony Colston-Hayler who the Mirror dubbed “The self-confessed king of the acid house warehouse parties”. 836 ravers were arrested that night and detained in 26 police stations. Only 8 of the rebels were actually charged with anything! It remains one of the biggest mass arrests in British history.

#4 – NORMAN ‘E’ COOK

In the late 80’s, Norman Cook suffered from clinical depression caused by the split from The Housemartins, his wife leaving him and his career taking a nose-dive. One night, his friends dragged him to the Escape bar in Brighton and offered him a treatment in the form of a pill – Ecstasy. He took it and half an hour later (just as the chorus to CeCe Peniston’s ‘Finally’ kicked in), he came up and so did his frown. The next morning his face ached as he’d not smiled in months and his life was turned around. He thought that ‘E’ could change the world. He started to translate those feelings into music under the alias ‘Pizzaman’ and scored some early dance floor hits in the 90’s, most notably with “Trippin’ on Sunshine”. If it wasn’t for Ecstasy that track would have never been made or incidentally, Fatboy Slim wouldn’t have been born.

#3 – LAND OF OZ

In August 1988, The Sun published an investigation into the Heaven night club (then owned by Richard Branson) which was home to Paul Oakenfold’s Monday night event, ‘Spectrum’. The Sun reported that “Junkies flaunt their craving by wearing T-shirts sold at the club bearing messages like ‘can you feel it?’ & ‘drop acid not bombs'”. Being as naive as they were, The Sun had taken the term Acid House and linked it with LSD rather than Ecstasy. Because of The Sun’s article on Heaven, Richard Branson told Paul Oakenfold that he need only to rename his night rather than shut it down. So, Spectrum closed but opened up again within weeks renamed ‘Land of Oz’.

#2 – GATECRASHER MILLENNIUM – CRASHED

At the Gatecrasher Millennium party at the Dom Valley Stadium, Paul Van Dyke was all set for his big moment as the midnight chimes signified the beginning of a new millennium. To bring in the new year Paul dropped a specially prepared edit of “For an Angel” to which the crowd euphorically cheered. Cheers soon turned to boos as some leathered idiot had climbed up a vertical pillar that was supporting the marque. The police made Paul turn off the music while they tried to get him down. Judge Jules even got on the mic and shouted “get down you fucking idiot. You’re going to ruin it for everyone”. Eventually he got down and Paul ran over to the guy and lamped him one; sparking him clean out in the process. Happy new year mate!

BONUS FACT: For public safety precautions Gatecrasher Millennium had a site morgue in case of a disaster.

#1 – FREEDOM TO PARTY

On January 27th 1990, 8,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, for the “Freedom To Party” campaign against the “Increased Penalties” bill. Amplified music was banned by the Police although this did not stop Debbie Malone singing “Rescue Me” accapella. They did arrest Rave MC Chalky White just as he was about to give a speech (he had been arrested 7 months previous for ecstasy possession). Later that night a free party was staged by Genesis’88, Biology, Sunrise, Weekend World, and Fantasy FM 1990. There were running battles between the police and ravers intent on getting into the building but the police gave in and the rave continued until 9am. Although it was a party that made rave history, some schmucks saw it as an opportunity to make a few quid buy selling sleeping pills, claiming they were Ecstasy. As a result, there were 100’s of ravers giving it ‘zzzz’ upstairs instead of raving downstairs. Just say no kids

BONUS VIDEO: Check out this video footage from the Freedom To Party rave compiled by the main promoter himself; Wayne Anthony.

So there you have it, the complete 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I’ve enjoyed researching and writing it. If you absolutely loved it then why not subscribe to our blog, follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook if you wish to be educated on all things ‘music’.

If you missed last week’s episode, you can catch that here – 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music #10 – #6.

Thanks for reading

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25 Example Websites of Big Background/Minimal Web Designs for Inspiration

June 6, 2012, 4:07 am

≫ Next: How to Improve Engagement on Facebook

≪ Previous: 50 Things you Didn’t Know About Electronic Music

Here is a collection of some of the best designs in music. We build great websites for the music industry but these lot weren’t made by ourselves but are a bunch of sites that are good enough for us to give our stamp of approval.

In this list we have sites that are heavily reliant on backgrounds, sites that have been designed with a minimalistic feel to them and designs that have incorporated clever imaging to good effect.

Enjoy!

Bashy

The Bright Music

Professor Green

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ebony Cuts

Faithless

Osborne Drums

Rita Ora

Chris Brown

Michael Korstick

Image the Music

The Killers

Kings of Leon

Cinq 7

Kevin Rudolf Media

Ryan Edgar Music

Yello Rainbo Records

Beyonce

Jarvis Cocker

Sick City Club

4AD

Oh Land Music

Futuretainment

Under the Psycamore

Goldfrapp

So there you have it; some of the best designs in music at the moment. Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section and we’d be happy to take a look!

Until next time.

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How to Improve Engagement on Facebook

July 17, 2012, 3:37 am

≫ Next: Artist Management – Tips for Choosing Management as an Artist

≪ Previous: 25 Example Websites of Big Background/Minimal Web Designs for Inspiration

Facebook and its Fan Pages are renowned for being difficult to amass a significant following; even though the music industry is easier than most industries. Music lovers and fans are loyal types and tend to give lots of support to the musicians/artists that they enjoy; so how do you bridge the gap and make these loyal fans engage on your page?

Although Facebook is the most popular social platform on the planet, it still pales in comparison to its nearest competitor Twitter when it comes to engagement. Twitter gets a lot more engagement for the general public as they enjoy the ‘close’ interaction that they have with celebrities etc. They prefer the 140 character limit as opposed to some of the longer Facebook posts you see these days.

However the mould is broken for bands, musicians and record labels etc. as evidence suggests that – for these – Facebook is more engaging: A recent study from Social Bakers has proven that brand engagement is stronger on Facebook than it is on Twitter.

So, taking this into consideration, musicians should be promoting their brand on Facebook as much as possible and using techniques that encourages engagement with fans.

Here is a list of ways to increase engagement on Facebook for your brand. It’s all about posting PICTURES!!… but there’s more to it than just imagery!

Personalise

Be personal about what you’re doing day to day. Fans are nosey; music fans are especially nosey and love this type of engagement. If you’re writing song lyrics let them know; give them tasters. If something has given you inspiration for an album cover let them know and post a picture. Let your personality shine through and include humour along the way.

If you’re not working on anything at the moment and are struggling to post anything with personality, a simple ‘fill in the gap’ post is often a safe but sure-fire way to increase engagement:

Illustrate

Posting pictures has been proven to be the best way to engage with fans. They are quick to look at so don’t take up all the readers’ time and can speak a thousand words. You’ll find that pictures get more engagement than any other type of Facebook post and can be the ice-breaker that sparks conversation with fans.

Compliment

Remember to complement those who have helped you along the way and give credit to fellow artists who may have helped you with your mixes/song creation etc. The creation and distribution of music is a team game. More often than not, whatever you achieve in this business may well not have happened if it wasn’t for the help of others. Compliment them and help promote them like they did with you. These industry relationships will only enhance your credibility in the future.

Thank

Thank fans who compliment your own work and listen to their constructive criticism. It may help you further. Artists often take influence from fans and by allowing those fans to steer your progression could be the key that determines whether you leave a legacy or fail. Encourage them to give their $0.02 and you’ll find that not only are you increasing Facebook engagement but you’re also fine-tuning your act.

Upkeep

Keep your Facebook fan page up to date with what’s happening. There’s nothing more dissatisfying than an idle Facebook page. Let them know what you’re doing or what you have in the pipeline:

Fans can be fickle at times and as it only takes a minute or so to post a comment or picture, you’ll find that failing to do this and letting your page go stale will have a huge effect on fan engagement. There is an evident pattern between activity and audience. Regular activity has been proven to increase the frequency of new fans and followers liking your page as shown in the graph. New fans and followers are worth a couple of minute’s effort here and there!

If you’re a record label and are trying to manage numerous social profiles at any given time, it may be beneficial to use social tools like HootSuite or TweetDeck. These allow users to manage various social profiles from one dashboard. We use these at Brandshank and can safely say that we’ll never look back!

Reference

Reference other artists who you’re taking influence from and like the sound of at the moment. They will be more inclined to do the same back and may spark them into enquiring about a potential collaboration or partnership. This is also a quick and easy way to make friends in the business and you can use references and compliments as ego bait that can help you get more contacts and build relationships that enhance your brand image.

Engage

Engage fans in conversation. Post posts that are likely to spark interaction and then answer all or as many fan comment posts as you can. Fans will appreciate it and will bring fans with them as they spread the word that you have a lot of time for fans.

Socialise

Make fans aware of your other online presences. Show them links to your website and its products, point them towards your other social platforms. You want to engage them via as many channels as possible and introducing your Facebook following to your Twitter or SoundCloud audience will keep fans engaged. Then why not direct this new ultimate audience to your merchandise and music via the website?

It’s all about building trust and engaging your audience using all these methods and then once your audience is engaged enough, direct them to your music and you’ll find that past window shoppers will turn into paying customers and past paying online customers will turn into fans that follow your act around and go to gigs. Then hopefully the fans that did this anyway will continue to spread the word for the benefit of you and music as a whole!

Engage, interact and just generally bring yourself down to grassroots level and have a laugh.

Let us know in the comments if there are any other techniques that you can add to increase brand engagement on Facebook.

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Artist Management – Tips for Choosing Management as an Artist

August 21, 2012, 7:52 am

≫ Next: New Arctic Monkeys Album release

≪ Previous: How to Improve Engagement on Facebook

There comes a point in a musician’s career where the proverbial brick wall jumps out and they hit it. Stopped in their tracks, the panic alarms sound and thoughts of “where do I go from here?” enter their mind as the harsh possibility of going back to the drawing board seems closer than ever before.

The most common problem is the inability to realise where they are at the moment, where they want to be and how to build the bridge that gets them from point A to point B.

Artist management is usually the missing piece of the puzzle.

Using sheer pride as their shield, artists end up going it alone and try taking on the world of music armed with their own raw talent. What artist management lack in raw talent, they make up for in experience of the music industry. Joining forces and employing an artist manager or management team will create a brand that has the raw talent as well as the experience of success in the music business: A perfect recipe.

The Job Role of Artist Management

The job of an artist manager can vary depending upon the contract agreed. There’s lots of variation involved as management these days tend to have a broader skill base to accompany digital marketing and online promotion as well as branding and traditional marketing etc. Artist management usually offer a full catalogue of services which are then packaged up to suit a certain artist or band’s needs.

Some artists might be efficient in certain areas so may decide that the management take care of only certain aspects. Other artists may need to employ them to do everything. The modern day artist will pay for a package of services that they require managing. The more services needed, the more expensive the package.

Upon employment, the artist management will make an assessment of the artist’s current situation. They will identify where the artist currently is within the industry; recognise areas of the brand that can be improved; determine leads and possibilities for growth; assess where the band/artist’s current path is heading, and direct them down an avenue that leads them to their preferred destination. They become part of the team and assist them along every step of the way.

These are just some of the services offered by artist management teams:

Personal Branding

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Promotion

br>

Recording

br>

Industry Partnerships

br>

Touring

br>

Sponsorship

br>

Online Marketing

br>

Brand Awareness

br>

Merchandising

br>

Licencing

br>

Taking advantage of a management team not only relieves some of the pressures associated with pushing a brand forward but frees up time for the artists to concentrate on perfecting their craft. After all, practice means improvement in music and by allowing a management team to look after the back-end of the band or artist, they free up time to practice the front-end – the music end.

Decide what you want from a Management Team

After deciding to hire management, you will need to approach some companies. Before going out there and contacting them however, be aware that they’ll bucket loads of questions to begin with as they try to make a realistic assessment of where you are within the industry, what your goals are, your current authority and make a judgement of your talent. You will need to make an initial personal evaluation yourself in order to better assist the potential management team and make it easier for them to offer up a package deal.

Try to ensure that you are in the strongest possible position before approaching a management company. Strengthen areas currently under your control and make inroads into showing that you have most bases covered and taken care of. This will minimise the cost of their services and will give you more control over your own image going forward.

You ideally want to be the major decision maker using the management team to offer suggestions and advice as well as letting them take care of the entire minor decision making process. You don’t want to end up feeling as though you are merely a puppet in the plans of the management team. This can lead to disagreements and arguments; things you could do without!

Where to find the right team

As with the majority of investments, most decisions to purchase come from word-of-mouth recommendations. Recommendations from people you know and trust are more likely to peak your interest than salesman offering you the next ‘miracle cure’. Listen to your industry influencers; ask them if they know of any companies that they would personally recommend. Read online reviews and write-ups about these companies. Do your research beforehand to avoid disappointment further down the line. Most artist management companies are genuine and good at what they do, but some can exaggerate their credibility; listen to the people who have worked with them and take notice who is recommending / criticising their work.

For relatively new artists who lack contacts for credible recommendations, there are lots of directories that house these types of business. Our picks of the bunch are The Unsigned Guide and Free Index.

Free Index is a free service whereas The Unsigned Guide charges a monthly fee. For what it’s worth, we advise you sign up for The Unsigned Guide. For £4.99 a month, you get some of the best information in the industry. As well as artist management listings with reviews for each listing and easily filterable preferences, you get access to some of the industry’s best kept secrets. For serious artists, The Unsigned Guide is gold dust.

Contacting a Manager

After having carefully read the reviews from others that have worked with the managers, be sure to read their terms and conditions first. A good company will have your own interests at heart and shouldn’t just be in it for a quick steal. Your success is their success, it’s as simple as that. The better they do the job for you, the more popular you become and the more secure their job becomes within your team. They should be doing their best to improve their job security and by doing their best, your act will reap the benefits.

Bearing in mind that managers are usually a single person (although it’s not uncommon for teams of management), you need to find a manager who has a similar personality to you. They need to be able to fit into the team like they’ve been there a while. A good sense of humour and a down-to-earth attitude aren’t part of the job description but it will make the communication a whole lot easier – and fun.

Good management will fully explain what they aim to achieve for you and will agree on where your goals are and explain how to achieve them. Signs of bad management are those who try to get you to sign on the dotted line as soon as you enter the room. Good management should create excitement and give you renewed hope about taking your act forward. Good management will have you begging to sign on the dotted line rather than trying to enforce you to.

Upon meeting them, ask how many artists and managers they currently have contracted to their roster; too many artists and not enough managers could potentially limit the time they spend assisting your career. Check that some of the artists they currently employ produce a similar style of music to your own. If they’ve been successful with similar acts then you know that they have the experience of the genre.

The Contract Details

All manager contracts vary as mentioned earlier, so it would be impossible to go into all the details regarding contracts. But some base knowledge should help you acknowledge whether a contract suits you as well as the management team rather than just suiting the management team.

Ensure that once the contract is drawn up, it is checked thoroughly by a well-established and experienced music contract expert. Entertainment attorneys are often the most experienced at this type of thing. They will be able to quickly identify small print and hidden clauses in the contract that could potentially leave you liable to unexpected hardships in the future. Run it by them first before you sign.

The contract should have targets and realistic performance goals that the management will aim for. The contract should also include get-out clauses that permit you to end the deal at your discretion if the management aren’t performing as well as they’d promised. Whether these clauses are in the form of penalties, subsidies or a complete contract cancel, ensure that you have some sort of get-out clause; it’s your safety net.

Good management will happily include these get-out clauses in the contract because if they are who they claim to be then they’ll be confident of delivering what’s required of them.

So hopefully this will have made things clearer about steps you can take once you hit the proverbial brick wall in your career. There are always people and companies that have experience and expertise in areas to take you the extra mile when you’re at a cross-road. Don’t be afraid to let someone else take the reins for a while; after all, if you do your research beforehand and choose the right management, then they will have as much drive to make your career a success as you do yourself.

Let us know in the comments if this post has been helpful and remember, there’s more than one way to reach the top!

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New Arctic Monkeys Album release

July 2, 2013, 9:38 am

≫ Next: Being clear on the hallmarks of a standout digital agency

≪ Previous: Artist Management – Tips for Choosing Management as an Artist

We were really interested to see Arctic Monkeys perform at Glastonbury 2013 – their performances seem to have come on leaps and bounds, even if Alex seemed to slip into a quasi-American accent while addressing the audience! Otherwise a faultless performance, the new Arctic Monkeys Album – AM is set for the shelves on 9th September 2013.

You can check out the press release from the band here, which carries details about the upcoming UK tour. Then you can check out the official video for the first single from the album below!

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Being clear on the hallmarks of a standout digital agency

March 1, 2016, 8:38 am

≫ Next: Rebranding: the good, the bad & the ugly

≪ Previous: New Arctic Monkeys Album release

In every town, city and suburb there is a ‘web agency’. In fact, there are probably 10 of them within a 3 mile radius of wherever you’re reading this from. Individuals and teams presenting themselves as the ideal solution to whatever business problem you have. That’s a lot of choice.

There are far fewer though, that are capable of creating digital assets and web properties to position a client as a market leader. This is the space in which we operate and we wanted to offer our thoughts on what it is that makes a standout digital agency.

This is an opinion piece of course and we’d love to hear any comments that either challenge or endorse these assumptions.

Experience

Given that this is a feature that can’t be faked and is by necessity time-served, it’s one of the more solid indicators of how well an agency will deliver your project. A diverse portfolio with client testimonials will provide some insight and it is one of the areas in which we place an unapologetic focus. Ongoing and regular work for the likes of Co-op Insurance, Grosvenor Casinos and Expedia is a good barometer of how highly our work is regarded. Whilst not every client is as prominent as those mentioned, a common requirement is for their digital profile to position them as a serious and credible operator in their respective spaces.

Efficiency

Whilst we’d agree that, certainly as far as design work goes, aesthetic impact is as good steer as any to the capabilities of an agency, we’d also argue that it’s often what happens under the surface that separates good from great. Top bracket agencies are busy places with many plates spinning and how they keep them spinning is a good yardstick as to how you can expect your project to be executed.

By way of example, we’ve seen the impact that a dedicated project management resource can have and by making individuals available whose sole purpose is to ensure that projects are delivered in line with the project plan, we’ve been able to embrace more work without any degradation of output. In short, look at the logistics of delivery – it’ll tell you heaps about the agency!

Standards

We’re big believers in the correlation between standard of output and commercial success, and our whole team see a value in exceeding expectations. The logic is pretty simple – if you deliver outstanding work, there’s a better chance of that client turning into a long term account and that’s a big driver for us.

We’ve built our team and proposition around two things – the creation of market leading sites and the ability to connect those sites with prospects. A great agency is a partner and one who delivers measurable results through high standards of output.

Strategy

Agencies with strong track records of helping clients achieve commercial success will inevitably have input to offer on strategy and how that aligns with the wider business objectives. Whether it’s initial discovery, conversion rate optimisation, traffic acquisition or web development, a great digital team should be able to marry that output with project goals and be prepared to take the lead in compiling strategy. The reality of many web projects is that clients need to be able to see commercial benefit – be that in the form of more new business opportunities, automation of client comms or more shopping baskets filled.

Of course these are all qualities that we think are important and a cynical reader might suggest that we’ve aligned what we think you should look for with our strengths. Whilst there’s probably some truth in that, what’s undeniable in my opinion is that if you identify an agency that carries the four hallmarks above, you can be confident that you’re talking to the right people.

On a personal level, I’d love to talk to you if you’re interested in finding out a bit more about us. Blog posts are great for shouting out some headlines but if you’d like to get under the hood of a problem you’ve got and would like some opinion, get in touch and we’ll tell you how we’d approach it.

The post Being clear on the hallmarks of a standout digital agency appeared first on Tone Agency.

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Rebranding: the good, the bad & the ugly

April 19, 2016, 9:06 am

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When the time comes to rebrand and reposition your business, it’s vital to consider how the shift will impact your customers, peers and the wider audience. It’s a real opportunity to catapult a brand to the next level, making your business more accessible and success more likely.

Success isn’t guaranteed though, so in this post I’m going to run you through some examples of the good, the bad and the ugly of rebranding to ensure you get it right.

Stella Artois

The Belgian beer, brewed since 1926, has certainly had its ups and downs. Most of us will recall the 90s campaigns which positioned the tipple as an up-market option with the clever tagline “Reassuringly expensive”.

Fast forward fifteen years to the noughties, though, and the pilsner brand was more associated with “larger louts” and the infamous “wife beater” title. This was a far cry from the self-image the brand had, of a beer for the “discerning gentleman”.

All of this took its toll on the business, with sales plummeting and a brand stigma that would take years to shake off.

The corporate response was positive however: to create a newly targeted image and a softer umbrella with the “Artois” brand.

Strengths were reduced from 5.2% Stella and a 4% ‘Stella Four’ option was to follow. This complemented a popular cider (“Cidre”) range to help attract a wider range of drinkers.

In 2010, the “she is a thing of beauty” campaign relaunched Stella to their desired spot – a sophisticated and gentlemanly drink from the continent – which won back their target market and kick-started a resurgence in sale volumes.

Burberry

Make your brand too famous and it may fall into the wrong hands; this was the case for Burberry. The fashion institution was founded in 1856 by 21-year old Thomas Burberry and found early success supplying the British Army with military apparel, trench coats and accessories during the Second World War.

By the mid to late 1990s, Burberry had upped its advertising budget in an attempt to increase profits and ensured the iconic checkered pattern adorned everything it produced.

The veteran British brand was pushed out to the masses and eventually the exclusive fashion house became synonymous with football hooliganism and ‘chav’ culture.

Image credit: TheArches via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

The brand had been tarnished.

It had to act, and fast.

This ‘fight back’ came in the form of key recruits Angela Ahrendts and Christopher Bailey.

Ahrendts joined the company in 2006 and gave Bailey complete creative control. Together they focused on reviving Burberry’s heritage for the “millennial” digital generation.

They expertly-retuned Burberry products and the Burberry story through digital platforms and social media – YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and also through RFID chips that turn mirrors in its stores into screens.

Image source

The latest use of technology through the burberry brand is “Burberry Kisses”, an interactive and visually immersive experience that lets customers send letters sealed with a digital kiss to friends and loved ones.

Gimmick or authentic? See for yourself here.

Old Spice

For a long period of time, Old Spice was seen as the reserve of the ’60 plus man’. The market knew it, brand managers knew it and sales performance showed it.

In 2010 that was to change with a legendary viral ad campaign that launched the product into a pop culture revival.

The ad featuring former NFL star Isaiah Mustafa; “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” instantly reached out to the younger consumer and generated millions of online views. A massively successful social media movement followed and, as a result, sales of the Old Spice body wash rose 11% in the year following the rebrand.

Whilst the product itself stayed the same,its perception underwent a radical change. A small business would struggle to fund and manage ad campaign on the scale as Old Spice but it does go to show that a little humour can go a long way.

Apple

By the 1990s, Apple products had become overpriced and uninspired; their product line consisted of reproduced older version computers. Then, in 1997, Stiff competition from Dell and HP brought the company close to bankruptcy.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive and all-round maverick, rejoined to try and turn the company’s fortunes around. He launched the advertising campaign “Think Different” which had a focus on changing customers’ perception, by allowing them to see Apple as a lifestyle choice, focusing upon individuality.

With the success of the iPod and then the iPhone, Apple products shot their way to the pinnacle of 21st century cool. The company is predicted to soon be worth an estimated $1tn.

the bad from the film, the good the bad and the ugly

Tropicana

World-renowned juice brand Tropicana had a shocker in 2009 when they rebranded and replaced their packaging design for the North American market. The packaging was immediately criticised by customers and it’s easy to see why.

The iconic image of a freshly-picked orange which once decorated the carton was gone; in its place was a full glass of orange juice – a move Tropicana described as “modern” but which left a sour taste on the customer palate. The equally iconic Tropicana logo was also modernised and the makers introduced a colour system to help customers differentiate between their juices. The result was a very bland and sterile range of packaging befitting a store brand not Tropicana, the world leader, in branded juices.

The new branding and packaging was launched on January 8^th 2009 and was reversed on February 23^rd in the same year as a result of public pressure – just in time, we say.

In total, this branding disaster cost Tropicana 50 million dollars and the agency responsible for it, Arnell Group, was subsequently fired.

Royal Mail

Think Consignia, think a medieval organisation – an organisation that’s shrouded in mystery. But in actual fact, this was the name of Royal Mail from January 2001 to May 2002. Yep, that’s right.

The iconic Post Office rebranded with a name fit for a beige 70s Estate car. As you’d expect, the public response was overwhelmingly negative and even The Communication Workers Union boycotted the name.

Lauded as a howling waste of money, the new name was supposed to show that the company did more than deliver mail. Unfortunately, it didn’t actually ‘deliver’ much at all. John Roberts, Consignia’s chief executive, resigned in June 2012 on the back of a £1.1bn loss forecast for the company, which most people put down to the new name.

In May 2002, senior executives announced that they were to replace the Consignia brand with the name Royal Mail Group. Today, that name still exists, and memories of Consignia have faded. But despite Consignia’s very short reign, it has to go down as one of the worst rebrands in UK history.

It really was a shocker.

the ugly form the film, the good the bad and the ugly

GAP

In Christmas 2010, Gap decided to push out a complete logo revamp without warning. Gap’s iconic and well-established logo was replaced with a new brandmark featuring a simple “Gap” in Helvetica and a reduced prominence of the brand’s iconic blue box to a light blue square. It was coined cheap, tacky and ordinary and you can see why.

The aftermath was intense, with thousands of Gap fans and commentators posting negative opinions on social media and in the press. The company quickly reacted with what was one of the quickest branding U-turns ever.

A mere eight days after releasing its new logo, the company reverted back.

Image source: Narrative Branding

The executive who oversaw the logo change was Marka Hansen, who resigned February 1, 2011. Luckily the quick backtrack spared the company any long term damage. Close call!

Bonus: The Jury is still out on Uber

Just in case you’ve been under a rock for the past 2 years, Uber is a mobile-focused ride-sharing app that has exploded onto the mainstream. Founded as an up-market driver service in San Francisco, the business is now valued at over $3.9 billion.

With the roll-out to over 30 cities worldwide, brand executives took the industry by surprise by unveiling a radical new look, replacing the familiar logo with colourful, geometric shapes. According to Uber, the new logo represents “bits and atoms”. Although we’re not quite sure what that means, the launch video seeks to explain further:

The criticism (and, in some cases, praise) has been delivered from all corners; the meaningful association between the logo and the brand has slipped in the eyes of some.

Uber changing its app logo to this. Dropping what must be the most recognisable U on the planet. Madness? pic.twitter.com/rtBcg1UNpz

— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeBBC) February 2, 2016

With predominantly negative reaction in the press and on social media, the man behind the logo change has resigned and DesignCrowd hosted a logo re-design competition.

Over 400 logos were submitted and here’s the winning entry:

The winning alternative design by designer Arcoalex

The bottom line…

Branding goes a lot further then just a logo. A logo, a colour palette or a font should demonstrate a connection between your business and your customer. At Tone we take that seriously, by delivering world class web experiences and graphic design which work specifically for your audience. We’d love to chat about how we can help you add your name to the ‘Good’ list, avoiding the ‘bad’ and the ‘ugly’.

Featured image credit: Edgar Crook via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

The post Rebranding: the good, the bad & the ugly appeared first on Tone Agency.

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10 Interactive Content Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

May 23, 2016, 3:21 am

≫ Next: 7 Proven Ways to Increase Conversions With Trust Elements

≪ Previous: Rebranding: the good, the bad & the ugly

We all know that the content you produce online should be useful, valuable, interesting or entertaining. However, content marketing is becoming less about the words you put on a page, and more about the experiences you create for the consumer.

For this reason, more and more marketers are exploring interactive content, which can take many forms such as, quizzes, surveys, infographics, calculators, maps and assessment tools. But in addition to giving your customers a better online experience, interactive content has a number of other advantages too.

70PRERCENT-STAT For example, a study by Demand Metric revealed that 70 per cent of marketers agree that interactive content is effective at engaging buyers, which is becoming increasingly difficult with traditional mediums such as the humble blog post.

This in turn can create interest in your brand, encourage consumers to take action, and share their experience among friends and family. But it isn’t as easy as simply coming up with a survey for your audience to complete.

It’s a key area of growth for us at Tone, we’ve even built an entire sub-site (See our work at: ‘Tone Playground’) to showcase our work in this field.

With this in mind, we wanted to lay out the pitfalls you should avoid; here are 10 interactive content mistakes to avoid at all costs.

1. Boring topic

In order to grab your audience’s attention, the topic of your interactive content must be interesting to them. Just because you find it enlightening or entertaining does not mean to say your target market will too.

What you should do:

Create some buyer personas, which will make it easier to find out what your target market likes. This will help you choose the right type of interactive content to go for.
Look at trending/popular topics within your niche by using tools like BuzzSumo for inspiration. Read this in-depth post by Paddy Moogan on how to do this successfully.
If your industry or organisation is fairly ‘boring’ anyway, think of a quirky or unique angle. Here’s a great post by Pratik Dholakiya to help you formulate ideas.
Don’t be afraid of being funny, snarky, or even controversial – within reason!

2. Lame title

Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many marketers fall at the first hurdle by giving their interactive content a lame title. By failing to catch the audience’s eye with a captivating heading, chances are your interactive content won’t succeed.

Which title would you be most likely to click.

Quiz: How good are your Maths skills?

Quiz: Think you’d pass SATs Maths in 2016?

Second one right?

The first title is too general (“Maths skills”) and doesn’t arouse enough curiosity. The second title on the other hand is very specific (“SATs Maths in 2016”), sounds more of a challenge (“Think You’d pass”) and plays on your fear of being less intelligent than a 10 year old.

What you should do:

Use personal pronouns like ‘I,’ ‘we’ and ‘you,’ as they are much more conversational.
Use power words such as “surprising”, “scary” and “proven” to evoke an emotional response (emotional headlines have a tendency to get shared more). Here’s a list of 180+ power words for writing emotional headlines.
Word your title as a question. This works especially well with quizzes.

3. Not bringing anything new to the conversation

Along with choosing the right topic, your interactive content needs to have a purpose too. What is the point of going to all that effort just to create something for the sake of it, which your audience can’t benefit from?

Another mistake is creating a carbon copy of another brand’s interactive content without bringing something new to the table. You might succeed in generating a few initial hits, but you’ll severely limit the potential reach of your content.

What you should do:

We’re not saying you need to re-invent the wheel, but think outside of the box and give your audience something new and exciting to consume. Aaron Agius wrote a useful post on how to ethically steal content ideas from others.
Listen to what your target market is talking about on social media / forums and create reactive content.

4. Lacklustre design

With interactive content, you have twice as much to think about. Not only must your content say and mean something, it needs to look the part too. Unfortunately, some marketers overlook the importance of design and believe that interactive content will hold up regardless of its aesthetics.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Interactive content with too many colours or a poor palette, lack of whitespace, squashed design and unclear call to actions won’t have the desired engaging effect.

The interactive infographic below (designed in Microsoft Paint) could have performed so much better if they put a bit more thought and effort into the design. Unsurprisingly, it only managed 14 shares and zero backlinks.

What you should do:

Use two main colours and never more than four. Here’s a post on three ways to pick the right colours.
Use shades to add variation in colour instead of adding more colours.
Opt for crisp, clean, and consistent typefaces that are easy to read. Here’s some amazing font combinations for inspiration.
Emphasise importance with bolding and scale.
Keep your graphics and text aligned with a grid system.
Know how the eye scans a page and reduce visual clutter.
Recognise the need for space. Space lets elements breath and makes it easier for users to digest what they see.

5. Unresponsive design

Between 2011 and 2015, mobile internet usage has increased five fold and now, 33% of internet users view their smartphone as the most important device for getting online. You simply can’t afford to create interactive content that doesn’t work on mobile.

If your interesting, worthwhile, attractive content doesn’t work properly on smartphones or tablets, users will quickly get frustrated and leave with a bad taste of your brand in their mouths. Just like the example below.

On desktop.

On Mobile.

The content extends beyond the screen and horizontal scroll is disabled so it’s actually not possible for users to interact with this piece of content.

What you should do:

Sounds obvious, but ensure your interactive content works on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.
Test your content on as many different screen sizes as possible. Use online tools such as BrowserStack, VirtualBox and VM Ware for this.
Be certain that graphics and text aren’t too small on smartphones and tablets.
Introduce interactive elements that take advantage of touchscreen capabilities.
Make sure it passes the Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. If it doesn’t, Google will provide you with information on what needs to be fixed.

6. Poor User Experience

A poor user experience will often be the result of overly complex interactive content. For example, making users jump through too many hoops on their journey or having no apparent information hierarchy.

Don’t think ‘the bigger, the better’ either. By giving users, particular millennials with short attention spans, too much content to read, their minds will soon wander elsewhere. Too many moving or interactive elements could overwhelm and confuse users too.

Below is a screenshot of an interactive piece called “What kind of drinker are you?”. It’s actually a pretty good idea but let down by a few usability issues in my opinion.

I feel it’s let down by:

The sound is automatically turned on which could irritate users, bloggers, journalists and influencers.
There are sound effects with each question which could add irritate people even more.
Weight is asked for in Ibs only. What about the people who are more familiar with metric?
It’s easy to get lost within the questions – no clear journey from start to finish.
Throughout, you never know what stage you are at so you don’t know how long the experience is going to last.
Some buttons aren’t placed in logical, prominent positions making it difficult to navigate to the next step.
No clear call to action of where to go next on the final results page.
No social sharing buttons on the homepage or results page.
Buttons and text too small on mobile making it incredibly difficult to use.

Here’s a (nofollow) link to the piece if you want to try the tool out for yourself.

What you should do:

Keep clicks to a minimum and establish an obvious route that users need to take.
Make CTA’s clear and obvious.
If there’s several steps towards completing the interactive content such as a ten question quiz, clearly let the users where they are by using a progress bar.
Enable users to have control and let them follow their intuition.
Ensure content can be universally understood or provide options.
Make sounds and music an option. Don’t have automatic audio on your interactive content, as some will find this annoying – especially me!
Have your team and/or friends to use your interactive piece and get feedback from them. Better still, watch them! You can also use Peek and get a free 5 minute user review of your content.
For more best practice advice check out 5 Key Principles of Good Website Usability by Sabina Idler.

7. Too long

A recent Microsoft study highlighted the deteriorating attention spans of humans, which has fallen from 12 seconds to eight seconds within the space of 15 years. Now comparable to the attention span of a goldfish, our lack of awareness is being blamed on the mobile revolution.

Therefore, it is safe to say that lengthy pieces of interactive content are far more likely to disengage your audience. Not only do quizzes or assessments with 20 questions seem daunting to consumers before they have even begun, boredom will undoubtedly set in sooner rather than later. Generally speaking, the more questions or the longer the piece, the higher the drop off rate.

Here’s an example of nice looking interactive infographic by Blackberry. One problem though.

It’s too long.

There are 40 stats (including first and last page) that you have to scroll through. If I could be bothered to read and digest every single stat I reckon it would take me at least 5 minutes to do so.

There are no social sharing buttons either, but if a content piece is engaging enough then people will do the work required to share with their friends and peers. However, it only received 2 shares!

What you should do:

Keep pieces of interactive content short as possible, simple, and sweet.
See this example by SuperDrug, which ended up with 817 referring domains.
Strip back the clutter and get rid of anything unnecessary.
For quizzes/assessments, clearly display the number of questions as users progress.
Rather than writing big blocks of text, get straight to the point and use images/visual clues.
Remember to keep your results short as well.
As mentioned above, test your interactive content with a small sample to see whether they found it too long/tedious.

8. Hard to find social sharing buttons

Interactive content featuring lots of visuals can go viral on social media. After all, status updates featuring photos are liked twice as much as those featuring text, while videos are shared a whopping 12 times more than text and link-based updates.

Consequently, it should be considered a crime if users have to endlessly scroll to find social sharing buttons. A case can be made for an online offence if sharing buttons are too small or go missing because of poor design too.

What you should do:

Place social sharing buttons in a prominent positions, preferably above the fold so users don’t have to scroll. It’s okay to have them at the bottom as well as the top.
Support social sharing buttons with a CTA that encourages users to share.
Limit the number of social media sharing buttons to as few as possible. In most cases you should include, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ as these have been proven to be the most popular. However, keep your target audience in mind and include the ones they tend to use most. Pinterest and Reddit are other popular sharing sites.
Don’t place them too close to navigation, so users don’t interact with them by accident.
They don’t have to be anything fancy. Below is an example of how to do it right.

screenshot of goat or goatee results page

9. Lazy promotion

Interactive content consumers can help propel your brand to viral status on social media, but you shouldn’t sit back and assume this will happen based on the strength of your creation.

Below is an example of an interactive parallax infographic that I think had the potential to do really well. It’s relevant to their target market, funny, interesting and well designed. Take a closer look for yourself here.

screenshot of simon cowell interactive content

However, it only received 66 shares and 2 backlinks. Well, 3 now that I’ve linked to it

Why did it perform so poorly? It’s pretty obvious that they didn’t spend sufficient time (if any time) on promotion/outreach.

There are plenty of other ways to promote and publicise your interactive content away from channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Don’t assume that this is where your entire audience resides, as you could be ignoring countless would-be customers.

What you should do:

Have a promotion plan ready prior to launch.
Research influencers relevant to your interactive content campaign. Here’s an epic guide by Steve Rayson.
Research potential blog targets relevant to your interactive campaign.
Outreach to the above after you’ve read this post and this one.
Pitch the value, not the tool.
Email existing subscriber lists.
Capitalise on the highly targeted nature of paid social promotion.
Spend an equal or greater amount of time promoting your interactive piece as you did creating it.
Here’s 33 more content promotion techniques from content marketing experts.

10. Not hiring a pro

With other forms of content, such as a weekly blog post on your website, you don’t necessarily need to enlist the services of a professional. As long as you know what you are going to say and how you are going to say it, traditional content doesn’t necessarily require a specialist skill-set.

However, not hiring a pro for your interactive content has the potential to be a big mistake. The expertise required to create something that looks good but also delivers an immersive and impressive experience is something most marketers do not possess.

What you should do:

If you’re a small business with a tight budget then do consider using a template creation platforms and online quiz generators. Although there are limitations, you’ll still be able to produce something more engaging than a traditional blog post.
If you’ve got a budget to play with then in order to give your users the best experience possible, think about working with a dedicated agency to custom build a piece of interactive content specifically for you. Agencies can also help with ideation and improvement suggestions too.

Below is an example of the kind of interactive content you can produce when partnering with an agency (shameless self plug). Nostalgia FM Ticks all the “What you should do” boxes in this post and as a result, exploded on social media and generated 96 backlinks (according to ahrefs), including links from NME and Econsultancy. Try the tool for yourself here.

nostalgia fm start and results page screenshots

In summary…

Owing to the advantages that interactive content can afford in terms of attention, interest, and engagement, it would be foolish not to explore this marketing technique. Even so, there are a number of common mistakes that are easy to make if you dive into the creation and promotion process headfirst.

Therefore, it makes sense to take a step back, think carefully about what you want to create, and be certain all the right boxes have been ticked. Do this and you should be able to reap the rich rewards that interactive content can provide.

At Tone, we are able to creative interactive, engaging, and shareworthy digital content for agencies and brands. We already work with some of the country’s most high profile brands (across both B2B and B2C) and have mapped out the qualities they vouch for; ideation, agility and responsiveness as well as design excellence.

To find out what Tone could do for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us about our interactive content services.

Featured image: Shutterstock

The post 10 Interactive Content Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs appeared first on Tone Agency.

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7 Proven Ways to Increase Conversions With Trust Elements

July 27, 2016, 2:12 am

≫ Next: Drop Down Navigation – 22 Inspiring Examples of Stylish Drop Down Menus

≪ Previous: 10 Interactive Content Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Trust is the secret weapon of digital marketing, and building it is the key to higher conversion rates. 73% of consumers feel that shopping online carries a higher risk than shopping at a physical retailer. 70% of purchase cancellations online are made because of a lack of trust in the website, while only 58% of web users believe online information is credible.

People understandably want to see proof before handing over their hard-earned cash. So how can you increase consumer trust in your site, and boost your conversion rate as a result? Here we look at a variety of methods and case studies to show you how.

1. Trust Badges/Seals

Trust badges/seals are logos that people associate with security. They are usually used on checkout pages as a symbol that the company has taken the trouble to make sure their payment process is secure.

One example being the SSL badge which stands for Secure Sockets Layer. This is essentially a way of creating a secure connection to transmit sensitive information such as credit card details. Other trust badges represent well-known brands associated with online security, such as Norton and McAfee.

A survey conducted by Econsultancy/Toluna asked participants to decide what influenced them the most when choosing a website to make a purchase from. Trust seals were the clear winner, with 48% of respondents indicating that they would be more likely to trust a site displaying them.

Image credit: econsultancy

This is borne out by a case study undertaken by Blue Fountain Media. They conducted an A/B test comparing the use of a VeriSign badge/seal (now Norton Secured) against privacy policy information. The use of the VeriSign badge/seal demonstrated a 42% increase in conversions.

Image credit: Blue Fountain Media

On the contrary, some users have experienced the opposite. Web designer Bradley Spencer increased his conversions by 400% by removing a trust badge from his website. However, the perceived legitimacy of the trust badge probably influenced peoples trust (lack of) more than the use of an actual trust badge per se.

Image credit: Kissmetrics

Various factors have to be taken into account when including trust badges, such as how relevant and trustworthy the brand is, and also whether or not the badge is clickable, as this can take the customer away from your site long enough to distract them from making a purchase. It is important to test trust badges first before implementing them.

2. Client Logos

If you have clients with a name that people recognise, you should be using these to your advantage. One example of this is Cook, an American Express travel representative, offering exclusive deals to first- and business-class customers. 91% of their website traffic was from new visitors, but their conversion rate to phone calls, how most of their bookings were taken, was not high. By including the AMEX brand prominently on their site, they increased phone call conversions by 48.4%.

Image credit: Wider Funnel

This technique also worked well for voice-over agency Voices.com. By incorporating the logos of well-known customers such as NBC, Discovery Channel and Microsoft, in addition to implementing some other changes to their site, they increased conversions by an incredible 400%.

Image credit: Conversion-rate-experts

3. Payment Logos

Payment logos advertise the payment methods your site accepts, such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. They help increase conversions by informing consumers that they have a choice of ways to pay.

Their success can be demonstrated by Hungarian beauty product retailer Manna. They wanted to sell to the German market, but the history between the two countries meant that there were trust issues to overcome. By adding payment logos to their checkout page, they achieved an 11.26% conversion rate, compared to 1.48% without.

Image credit: Manna

4. Testimonials

Many people are surprised at the results testimonials can deliver, but they really do work, particularly if you are launching a new business or product, as people are much more likely to buy into something if they can see evidence that they are not the first to do so.

However, the position of testimonials on your page is vital. Michael Aagard changed the position of the testimonials on his page to see if it would make a difference, positioning two above and two below his CTA instead of all four below it. This increased conversions by 64.5%. (link to case study unavailable due to site under maintenance)

This technique also worked for WikiJob, who boosted their conversion rate by 34% by simply moving their testimonials higher up the page.

Image credit: VWO

Using pictures of faces alongside testimonials has an even greater effect, in some cases doubling conversion rates, as this makes people feel real human beings have used the product or service before.

photo testimonial case study double conversion rate Image credit: Signal V. Noise

Tone tip: Make a real feature of testimonials by turning them into case studies, as we have done here.

5. Reviews

Reviews convince buyers of the authenticity of your site, as real people are sharing their experiences of using your product/service/website. 63% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a site with reviews and ratings of the products.

Express Watches, an authorised Seiko dealer, wanted to optimise their website for maximum conversions. With the watch industry being flooded with replicas, they needed to find a way to increase consumer trust. Their solution was to add reviews on all their product pages, which increased their conversion rate by 58.3%.

Image credit: VWO

Likewise, FietsPunt, a Dutch online retailer of cycling equipment, wanted to decrease the high bounce rate on their product pages. By adding a TrustPilot widget linking to customer reviews, they grew their conversion rate by 36.73%.

6. Social Proof

The power of social media is always on the increase, and it is well worth harnessing, as people are inclined to trust the opinions of their peers. 84% of people who shop online have at least one social media profile, so it’s a pretty huge market to tap into.

Betfair, an online betting shop, have a large following on Facebook and wanted to find a way of converting that into registrations. By highlighting their Facebook following on their registration page, they increased their registration rate by 7%. While this may not seem like a lot, for a company with as much traffic as Betfair, this can mean a significant increase in profits.

Image credit: VWO

However, this technique is only really effective if you have a large number of followers sharing your information. Online hardware retailer Taloon.com actually increased their CTA clicks by 11.9% by removing the social sharing buttons they had under each of their products. As most of these had not even been shared once, the buttons were having a negative effect on consumer trust.

Image credit: VWO

7. Real Staff Imagery

People can absorb facts much more quickly from a photograph than they can from text, and are connected to a product or service by images of people. However, we have become adept at ignoring stock images because they are so frequently used in advertising. Illinois-based 160 Driving Academy, who offer truck driving lessons, increased the amount of people taking up their classes by a huge 161% by replacing a stock image on their website with a photograph of a real student.

Image credit: VWO

It is also vital to use an image that conveys the desired result. Dutch online estate agency Makelaarsland found sign-ups increased by 89% when they replaced a photograph of a staff member smiling at the camera with one of a man sticking a “Sold” sticker over a “For Sale” sign, as this represented the desired outcome for those using the site.

Image credit: VWO

In conclusion, building consumer trust is vital these days if you want to get the most of your traffic. By implementing any of these trust elements, you should start to see the positive effects it can have on your bottom line when people trust you. But remember, always split test first!

Read this next – Who put that there? The dark (and illegal) art of “sneak into basket”

The post 7 Proven Ways to Increase Conversions With Trust Elements appeared first on Tone Agency.

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Drop Down Navigation – 22 Inspiring Examples of Stylish Drop Down Menus

August 11, 2016, 2:21 am

≫ Next: Mobile > Desktop

≪ Previous: 7 Proven Ways to Increase Conversions With Trust Elements

Over the years as a Front-end Developer and Designer, one of the most consistently bland elements I’ve witnessed on many sites has been the drop down navigation menu. Most of these haven’t been given any real consideration – they’re badly-designed and look like an afterthought or a bolt-on towards the end of the project. However, by giving drop down menus a little more thought, they can be stylish, effective and improve click-through rates.

I first published this post in 2012, whilst researching current trends and styles for a client project, when I compiled a list of good practice. One thing I noticed was that drop down menus were being taken to the next level and beyond, becoming less of a site map and more of an interactive feature. Usability played an important part in the modern day drop down menu, with the introduction of lots of fun elements – whether it be tabs, sliders, iconography, call to actions or just beautiful imagery.

In December 2013, the examples I had showcased had to have their first update – over the half of the sites had been updated and some had even been replaced in the list by new ‘entrants’. You’ll now find not just drop down menus, but the occasional slide in menu too – mostly taking their cue from responsive design.

Use these examples for design inspiration and next time you’re working on a menu, add some extra fun, style or wow factor to it.

Updated 20th July 2015: Replaced seven sites and updated fifteen screen shots.

Updated 11th August 2016: Replaced six sites and updated five screen shots.

1. Reiss

2. OARS

3. Digital Spy

4. Bentley

5. Antro

6. IWC Schaffhausen

7. Paper Collective

8. Beyond Trust

9. Olympic.org

10. Evernote

11. Tinypass

12. Le Coq Sportif

13. Next

14. Adidas

15. Audi

16. Waterworks

17. Grosse Lanterne

18. The Philadelphia Orchestra

19. Schuh

20. ESPN

21. The Open

22. Playstation

As you can see, drop down navigation menus have taken on a whole new look. They’ve fast become an important aspect of web design. Twinned with added functionality at the development phase, designers and developers are able to create sleek and stylish menus that improve conversion rates, click-through rates and usability.

Let us know in the comments if you know of any stylish and interactive drop down navigation menus.

And, if that hasn’t whetted your appetite enough, visit these websites for more inspiration:

30 Inspiring Websites That Use Stunning Large Photo Sliders

10 Cool Examples of CSS3 Transition & Transform Hover Effects

Featured image credit: suri via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

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Mobile > Desktop

August 26, 2016, 3:14 am

≫ Next: It’s Official – Website Users Do Scroll Below the Fold!

≪ Previous: Drop Down Navigation – 22 Inspiring Examples of Stylish Drop Down Menus

Ok so maybe that’s over egging it a touch but when looked at through the prism of traffic volumes arriving at your site, mobile visitors have been more numerous than their desktop counterparts for over a year now. Google themselves had this to say in May 2015.

Here we are then, well over a year later and that trend doesn’t seem like bucking anytime soon and for us, it still appears that creating an environment for this ever increasing number of website visitors can be a bit of an afterthought.

Web technologies change pretty rapidly these days and if your website was created more than 3 years ago, the likelihood is that a responsive version of your site wasn’t top of your agenda. That landscape has now flipped and if you’re serious about the digital channel continuing to deliver leads, sales or other opportunities then I’d argue that you really should bring this front of mind.

As with many applications of these sort of UX features, there’s a difference between good and great. Good is recognising that you should be making provision for these users and doing something about it while great is about not only creating a site that responds to the various screen sizes being used to view it, but by also taking into account the usage behaviours associated with these devices.

Source: Karol Podlesny

Consider your garden variety smartphone and tablet. If, for example, you had to enter some details via a form on a tablet, it’s pretty straightforward to do. There’s a lovely half sized keyboard that pops up and there’s not much inconvenience or degradation of user experience. Contrast that with a phone however and it’s much more fiddly to perform exactly the same operation. There’s screen pinching and fat thumbs (guilty!) to contend with and in general, it’s just a little more cumbersome.

I’d like to invite you to consider two things then:

Does my site play nicely with mobile visitors? (which, according to Google, now make up more than their desktop cousins)
Even if it does, have I taken into account how people use these devices as they journey through my site.

Having a responsive site is one of the more important features of your website these days and it’s something that we place an unapologetic focus on here at Tone. As always, if you’d like to chat about this, or any other aspect of your digital output then hit me up via our contact form.

Originally published on LinkedIn

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It’s Official – Website Users Do Scroll Below the Fold!

October 25, 2016, 1:53 am

≫ Next: 5 Key Reasons Why Wireframing is Important in Web Design

≪ Previous: Mobile > Desktop

People do scroll below the fold – you’ve just proven it.

Yet we often still have the same old conversations with clients…

Image credit: Brad Colbow

Maybe not quite like that but you get the picture.

“This, this, this (and of course, that) need to be above the fold”

Back when newspapers were the most popular way to catch up on events, the concept of “the fold” was crucial to grabbing the attention of viewers. Engaging images and bold headlines convinced readers to buy one newspaper over the other, and this concept made its way into web design too.

While the area at the top of your page still counts for directing an audience and revealing the intent of the page, it’s no longer a good idea to cram all your valuable information into a single slot. If you did, you would probably end up with something looking like this…

Over the decades, the web and its users have evolved. In the nineties, scrolling may have been a legitimate concern for designers and developers – forcing them to place content at the top of a webpage, but today things have changed – users are now far more comfortable with scrolling, as numerous studies have proven:

“Chartbeat” (a company for data analytics), looked at data from over 2 billion unique visits and found that “66% of all attention on a typical webpage is spent below the fold.”

Image credit: Tony Haile—Chartbeat

ClickTale analysed 100,000 page views and found that people used the scrollbar on 76% of all pages, with 22% scrolling all the way to the bottom (regardless of page length).

Milissa Tarquini of TMZ.com found that the most-clicked homepage link was at the very bottom of the page.You can find even more case studies at the bottom of this post.

The way people browse has changed

Realistically, placing most of a page’s information above the “fold” is no longer as simple as it sounds – given the rapid rise of mobile and tablet internet browsing usage.

The latest report suggests that nearly 60% of online searches come from mobile devices. The ever growing number of screen sizes means that the fold is an inconsistent measurement these days.

Image credit: OpenSignal

As you can see, there are no general rules regarding the location of the fold, as it can vary dramatically from one screen resolution to the next.

Fortunately, the rise of mobile browsing has also helped to ensure that “above the fold” marketing is no longer relevant. After all, smaller screens and devices have forced the average internet used to adapt.

Today, when an internet user visits a website, they wouldn’t expect to see all the information they need right there on the webpage in front of them. If they were to see everything at once, the chances are that they would need to zoom in just to read it.

In a nutshell, today’s average mobile experience is built around the ability to seamlessly scroll through websites, and so we’ve gotten more used to this motion as a natural part of browsing online. Whether we’re looking through product listings on our favourite store, reading the news, or scanning Facebook feeds, we’re used to dragging our fingers across the screen and moving through page, after page.

Smooth, seamless scrolling

As ‘scrolling’ has become more deeply engrained into our daily browsing habits, our mobile behaviours have transferred onto desktop platforms too. In fact, design agency “Huge”, measured the presence of scrolling in various tests for usability and discovered that:

“Participants almost always scrolled, regardless of how they are cued to do so.”

In other words, we expect to have to scroll “below the fold” to find what we want from any given webpage.

This is part of the reason why designers are now focusing on delivering smooth and seamless scrolling experiences – rather than attempting to fit crucial content into a small and difficult-to-read box.

Designs are becoming increasingly more interactive and user-oriented, and scrolling is an important part of this. Parallax scrolling and other developments have even meant that scrolling no longer seems like a chore to the average user – it’s simply a convenient way to experience the internet and a website.

Setting the record straight

Though it’s true that the top of your web page still has an important role to play in capturing attention and outlining the purpose of a page – it’s not the only crucial element for a designer, developer, or marketer to think about.

Perhaps the most important thing to learn today, is that you don’t need to design “above the fold” to offer a great customer experience.

Instead, good UX relies on using a well-thought-out information hierarchy, smooth design, and engaging elements to keep users moving naturally through a website. From visual elements that draw the eye down the page, to compelling content that pulls the user in, there are several ways to make scrolling an organic part of online browsing.

Here’s a few examples of how we do this for our clients.

TL;DR

Website users scroll.

The end.

Featured image credit: Peter Gerdes via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

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5 Key Reasons Why Wireframing is Important in Web Design

December 22, 2016, 1:14 am

≫ Next: Election 2017 – Who wins if we count social media popularity alone?

≪ Previous: It’s Official – Website Users Do Scroll Below the Fold!

The chances are that you will have heard the term “wireframing” when working with web designers in the past. However, many people are still unsure about what this means for their company and web presence.

What is a wireframe?

The process of wireframing refers to the design period in which clients and web experts come together to determine the informational hierarchy of a webpage, so that it’s easier to plan the arrangement of content, and user experience. Wireframes are simple, low fidelity layouts that outline the placement and rough size of specific page elements, from conversion areas, to site features. Wireframes ensure that each page has a purpose, achieves the goals set out in the client brief and define a logical navigation for your website.

Wireframes are devoid of any artistic choices regarding font, logos, or colour, because they focus entirely on the structural elements of the website. In a way, the wireframe allows you to work on the foundation of your website, before you add all the aesthetic appeal. Making structural changes to a low fidelity wireframe is much faster than making structural changes to a fully designed page concept.

What Makes Wireframing so Useful?

So, why do designers set out creating the skeleton for their new website project with wireframing? Why don’t they simply jump into the fun stuff by creating beautiful and detailed designs from scratch? Many clients can get carried away with the excitement of creating a website, and forget that without a strong foundation, the surrounding website could be inefficient.

During a wireframe project, web designers have the chance to focus on user experience only – the factor that matters most to everything from conversion, to customer loyalty. Without the distraction of fonts, colours and imagery, wireframes can allow designers to work on the underlying elements of a website, and eliminate the need for expensive changes in the long-run.

Here are five key reasons why you should consider wireframing as a key element of any web design project.

1. Developing Layout and Structure

Most companies begin developing a website with a long list of ideas in mind about features and content that they would like to include. Wireframes help a designer to determine which elements should be included in each page, and the functionality requirements that need to be set in place for those elements.

Simply put, a wireframe allows designer and client to work together in creating a solid page structure before the design is fully implemented.

2. Creating an Informational Hierarchy

Another important benefit of wireframing is that it allows companies to forget about styles and colours so that they can focus on the essential elements of navigation and information. Creators can ask themselves what they want their users to do when they visit their website, and establish the information that needs to be provided to move the user along to the correct pages, and find the information they need.

When a wireframe is created, designers and clients can see which page elements are more important than others, and the black-and-white or low fidelity nature of the frame allows each person to easily see how the information on each page falls neatly into place.

3. Focusing on User Experience

As we mentioned above, wireframes have the unique ability to draw unparalleled attention to the basic structure and function of a website – the elements that will have an impact on user experience. Designers who skip the wireframing phase can easily get caught up in the elements of making a site look good, and forget about things much more important than design – such as usability, functionality and user experience.

By eliminating imagery, colour, and other details, a designer is able to think more about the functionality of each element on a page, placing a strong focus on developing the best possible user experience.

4. Clarifying Features

Wireframing helps you to determine which features are wanted on a website, and which elements are needed. In the early stages of development, clients and web designers can work together to try out different potential applications and tools that might offer better usability to their visitors, to aid conversions.

Sometimes, you may choose to remove a feature once it has been wireframed because you can see that it simply doesn’t help towards the goals of your website. Seeing features without creative influence can help you to focus on clarifying which elements really matter.

5. Saving Time

FInally, one of the biggest benefits of any wireframing project is that it saves time in the long-run. While it may seem like more effort to dedicate a few days to producing a full set of of wireframes, it actually saves time throughout the project lifecycle.

Designers lucky enough to have a UX team behind them will receive the approved wireframes from which to design to. This makes their phase of the process much simpler, as they no longer have to spend the time (which comes with the added pressure) of ensuring that each page has a flow and a purpose. They can simply do what they do best; make a low fidelity wireframe look pretty by turning it into a full design concept.

A Process for Specifying your Website

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when considering the usefulness of wireframes in web design, is that wireframing allows you to think through problems carefully and determine the performance of your website. Like other aspects of a development process however, wireframing can have pitfalls if shortcuts are taken.

Remember, when creating the perfect responsive wireframe, you should avoid:

1. Placing an emphasis on design and colour: Working in greyscale helps to maintain the focus on the functional process of designing a website. The idea is to finalise structure, layout and purpose of the page; not the design.

2. Adding too much detail: You can always apply extra detail to show to your clients and team in the latter stages of a project, but starting with too much detail can lead to confusion. Try to keep wireframes low-fidelity to make the process as simple and as straightforward as possible. Think grey rectangle for image blocks and Lorem Ipsum for body copy.

3. Creating a wireframe for every possibility: Wireframing is a great way to try out different ideas, but you need to settle on a concept eventually. Stick to only what is important for your business or client, and avoid getting carried away with a range of different features and structures. e.g. Create one ‘Default Pagetype’ wireframe as opposed to creating a Terms and Conditions wireframe, a Privacy Policy wireframe etc. since these types of pages will follow the same default structure in most cases.

Featured image credit: Aurimas via Flickr. Licensed under CC 2.0

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Election 2017 – Who wins if we count social media popularity alone?

June 9, 2017, 9:36 am

≫ Next: 5 Essential Ingredients of an About Us Page that Converts

≪ Previous: 5 Key Reasons Why Wireframing is Important in Web Design

Today is election day so as we trudge through the rain, dodge the exit pollsters and make our own personal decision on the future of our country we thought it would be appropriate to take a look at other metrics.

In particular, who wins if the election was decided on social media popularity alone? We have put together an infographic to tell you just that. It looks as though Labour has the edge on social media, but what really counts is your vote so make sure you have your say, whoever you decide deserves your ‘X’.

Uk snap election social media growth infographic

And here’s the official UK Election results…

You will find more statistics at Statista

Header image credit gary yim / Shutterstock.com

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5 Essential Ingredients of an About Us Page that Converts

August 7, 2017, 1:54 am

≫ Next: Mayweather vs. McGregor: Toe-to-Toe Comparison Infographic

≪ Previous: Election 2017 – Who wins if we count social media popularity alone?

A compelling ‘About Us’ page on your website is a great way to gain credibility and demonstrate a strong, clear and recognisable brand.

You could have the best products or services but without that ‘hook’ or a clear connection to your visitors you may struggle to convert – a small necessity that many businesses overlook.

A 2015 web usability report found that 52 per cent of website visitors wanted to see the ‘About Us’ information immediately after visiting a company’s homepage. So, what essential ingredients should you include for potential customers to trust and buy from your business?

1. Tell your story

Storytelling is an incredibly powerful medium when it comes to conversing with customers online. Not only does a narrative entertain and engage, it can also enable audiences to relate to what you are saying. An inspiring or emotional story humanises the brand too, helping you steer clear of cold, corporate feeling language.

Start with who you are (as a business) where it all began and what that means to the audience. This will provide context and meaning for your products or services. Even if the brand doesn’t have an interesting story, try to focus on what makes you human or highlight the journey of noteworthy customers. Another way to boost your appeal is with photos, which can demonstrate how far the business has come since inception.

The most important thing is giving audiences something they can identify with, as this naturally leads them to place more trust in your brand.

Here’s a good example by Invisible Creature of how they made their brand more personable via the About Us page (click the play button).

2. Showcase your team

Although storytelling can help humanise the brand, the addition of profiles and photos for your team is proven way to add an even deeper layer of approachability. The seemingly open and honest transparency allows the client to get an at-a-glance view of exactly who is behind the business and who they might dealing with should they decide to work with you. An introduction before the introduction almost.

Here’s an example of a recent “Meet the team” section designed by us here at Tone for Forest Fuels. Due to the client’s sheer number of employees, we opted for a carousel to showcase the customer-facing team upfront and centre and accompanied that with a “Meet the team” button incase users wanted to view all staff which takes users to a page displaying all employees split by department.

forest fuels meet the team about us page

If possible, hire a professional photographer and you can produce team photos like this, as we did for our client Moorepay.

It isn’t a requirement to upload professional head shots of every employee, or write in-depth biographies, simply giving a little insight into the characteristics and qualities of your team is all it needs. You could include their likes and dislikes, what they enjoy most about working for the company, and any pet hates or party tricks.

For one of our clients, who provide software for nurseries, we opted for illustrations instead of real life head shots. This cartoon-like approach for another Tone client Connect Childcare really resonates with their target market.

connect meet the team on about us page example

3. Show off your credentials

Trust elements can noticeably boost conversions, as 70 per cent of purchase cancellations online are made because due to a lack of trust, while only 58 per cent of web users believe online information is credible.

Obviously those stats may be related to eCommerce purchases but even in B2B environments it’s well worth showcasing that trust and credibility aspect.

With this in mind, consider including:

Any awards or accolades
Accreditations or certifications from industry associations
Online trust badges/seals
Customer/client reviews and testimonials
A list of suppliers and partners you work with (possibly including their logos)
Links to social media accounts

Here’s another example of how we showcased our client’s high-end customer base on their About Us page, insurmountably increasing their perceived credibility.

trusted by market leaders on about us page example

And here’s an example of we displayed a list of accreditations for yet another client:

4. Be visual

We have seen a lot of About Us pages that have nothing more than a few paragraphs of text, which does little to inspire or excite potential customers, causing disinterest quickly. What’s more, the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it does to decode text, while the average human attention span is now less than eight seconds!

For this reason, use visuals such as photos, videos, icons, graphics or even animations and transitions where possible.

Take the About Us page from EHAGroup as an example, where a clean and concise page with smooth transitions and high quality photography really takes things up a notch (click the play button).

However, it is equally important to use authentic visuals and not just stock images. Along with being extremely obvious, the inclusion of readily available stock imagery can actually negatively impact your credibility.

5. Include CTAs

A CTA or ‘call to action’ is a button or link which points out to various other pages within your site.

When including CTAs into your page, the first thing you need to be mindful of is what NOT to do. In the quest for conversions, clients often fall into what we call “The Conversion Trap”. You will have heard the comments:

“Put 5 star ratings here, and here… and here”
“Everything needs to be above the fold”
“The more CTAs the better”

…you might as well be saying “Forget the user experience, as long as they convert we’re happy” which is never the correct way to introduce you and your team. In fact, you’re only succeeding to reduce your conversion rate as the user becomes overwhelmed with CTAs.

So try not to litter the About Us page with CTAs as it could potentially undermine any trust or credibility you have worked so hard to establish. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t include them at all, because if you manage to get the balance right it is a superb way of helping potential customers on their journeys.

Be mindful that on an About Us page, you primary goal should be to gain credibility and trust, your secondary goal should be to guide the user to the right section of the site for them, especially if they are at the start of the sales funnel. It’s generally bad practice (and rather intrusive) to try to encourage them to buy from you right now, at the point of introducing yourself to them.

However, for those who are already sure of their issue and looking for that final piece of credibility before making a buying decision, you may want to subtly encourage visitors to see what you have to offer and make it easy for them to get in touch with a phone number, email address or online enquiry form like similar to the example we designed below:

So, be aware of the range of users you will be welcoming and provide a combination of internal links and CTAs that cater for everyone.

In Closing

As you can see it pays to go beyond 300 words of plain text. Don’t just settle for an okay About Us page, really put your shoulder behind it as it is the most likely candidate of all the pages on your website to turn otherwise passive visitors into paying customers – utilise that to your advantage.

It really is the difference between a world class site and a message that really resonates and one that drops squarely into the ‘ordinary’ bucket.

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